You & This Route

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Description

You're going to need physical and mental agility for this one! Start up the first 10-15 feet of Bold Line with a high stick clip, follow a row of crimps right to a slot and the second bolt. From here, the next 30 feet of climbing are deceptively pumpy and all the holds face the wrong direction. At the roof, move left and clip the bolt on Bold Line before a good rest. With your wits about you, pull left out of the rest immediately onto a compression column. Multiple technical cruxes highlight the next few bolts of climbing, and reasonable holds disappear just in time to create some of the most complex and wild sequences in the Lower Gorge. Finish up easy terrain to a high set of fixed steel biners on a ledge.

This route would likely deserve all four stars if only the line were a bit more independent and free of the standing (no hands) rest. Even so, the crux is likely as perplexing and technical as it gets in the Lower Gorge, and that's definitely saying something.

All the bolts were placed to maintain the integrity of Boldline, which was originally the only line through this section of wall for decades. Thus, the first bolt on both Body Karate and the direct start are stick clip mandatory. The bolt placement moving over the roof and into the standing rest replaced an ancient, thin, bent piton.

Mad props to Peder Groseth for sending the direct start in summer of '17 and establishing the hardest route in the gorge, as well as Jess Groseth for sending the remaining finish (I think the same week) on the right column out of the standing rest for yet another fun compression.
Dec 27, 2015

The movement on this is quite good and the only detractor is that the top is fully a squeeze job. I easily clipped all the upper bolts from the 10- crack to the right on my first go getting the rope up to suss the moves. Also, I found the second to last bolt (the one you'd clip after the last hard move) to be too high. (or maybe the one prior too low) I hung a 60cm sling from it and that allows you to clip it from the stance in between the two cruxes.
May 30, 2018